


A Couple of Kooks Hung Up On Romancing

by wordslinging



Series: Modern Au Where Things Are (Mostly) Happy And (Almost) No One Is Dead [1]
Category: Spartacus Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Drunken Shenanigans, Engagement, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, M/M, Mentions of past abuse, Weddings, various background pairings - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 12:42:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3447614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordslinging/pseuds/wordslinging
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crixus and Naevia are getting married, and their friends are going to make sure the wedding goes perfectly.</p><p>That just...might be a little more complicated than originally planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Couple of Kooks Hung Up On Romancing

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been working on this for a long, long time, and finally set myself to finishing and posting it. The 'verse this story takes place in is basically my default setting for all Spartacus modern AU stuff, and has already spawned some other stories in my head, but it all started with watching Separate Paths for the first time and going "You know what? No. MODERN AU WHERE CRIXUS AND NAEVIA LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER".

Agron knows something's up when he gets back from his midmorning coffee run and Spartacus isn't in his office, because something has to be up for Spartacus to be out of his office on a weekday morning without Agron knowing where he is and why. Then he sees the email from Naevia, grins, and heads down the hall.

He gets to Naevia's office just in time to see Spartacus set her down after lifting her off her feet in a hug. Oenomaus and Melitta are in there, too, beaming like proud parents. Titus isn't around, which suits Agron fine--the old man's a good boss, but that whole 'well-meaning but stern father figure' thing he's got going on never fails to make Agron a little nervous around him.

He raps on the door frame, and Naevia turns to look at him. 

"So that asshole's finally going to make an honest woman out of you?" Agron asks.

"That's my fiance you're calling an asshole, asshole," Naevia replies with a smile that could light the whole room, holding up her hand to display the simple but gorgeous ring on it.

Agron comes into the room and hugs her. He and Crixus give each other shit like it's their job, but Crixus and Naevia are the most disgustingly adorable couple in existence, and this has been a long time coming.

"Drinks at the Arena at six tonight," Naevia tells him when she pulls back, and then punches Spartacus in the arm. "Your job is to make sure this one shows up, or I'm sending Crixus after both of you."

"Duly noted," Agron says with a smile.

When he gets back to his desk, he pulls up the calendar to see if he needs to move anything around. It's a pretty light day by Spartacus' standards, so they should be fine unless anything unexpected comes up. Which is a possibility, because everyone at Batiatus & Associates has a permanent boner for difficult cases, and Spartacus might just have the biggest difficulty boner of them all.

Batiatus & Associates used to be Batiatus & Batiatus, but tension started growing between Titus and his son and daughter-in-law even before Oenomaus made partner, and eventually Quintus and Lucretia split to start their own firm. Good riddance, as far as Agron's concerned--Quintus is every negative stereotype about lawyers personified, and whereas Titus is kind of scary but a good boss, Lucretia is just fucking scary. No one knows that better than Naevia, who used to be her assistant. Agron remembers more than a few times when it seemed like she was on the verge of a breakdown, trying to cope with Lucretia and law school at the same time. Spartacus may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but at least he's never made Agron cry in the bathroom.

The workday passes without many complications, and at 6:15 Agron hits the intercom button and says, "Seriously, I'm not waiting for Crixus to show up and try to unplug your computer again. Are you done yet?"

"There's still one more email I need to write," Spartacus replies, and Agron rolls his eyes.

"Dude, are you forgetting I can see your inbox? You said that three emails ago." 

He finally lures Spartacus out of his office, calling a cab before he can change his mind and go back in. The party's in full swing by the time they get to the Arena, and Spartacus barely makes it through the door before Crixus envelopes him in a bear hug and drags him off to the bar. Agron snags a spot close to the door, watching them a bit warily--if Crixus is that drunk already, tonight's going to be intense.

"Gannicus already gave him about ten free shots." 

Agron turns at the voice and grins at Nasir, holding out one arm. Nasir comes around the bar for a kiss, then leans against him, his arm around Agron's shoulders. 

"So Gannicus has already done ten shots, too, then?" Agron asks, because he's never seen Gannicus pour shots for anyone without matching them. He glances over to where Gannicus is doing some sort of show-offy thing that involves tossing bottles around. To his credit, he doesn't drop any of them.

"Oh, no, he's had way more than that," Nasir says. He already looks a little crazy around the eyes, and Agron kisses his temple.

"You holding up okay?" he asks. 

"Just promise you'll help me shut it down if they try to light anything on fire," Nasir says, and then smiles at him. "How was your day?"

"I had to get Spartacus out of the office at a reasonable time," Agron tells him. "Aside from that, okay. Yours?"

"I had a good meeting with my thesis advisor, one of my best friends got engaged, and I don't have to wait until I'm off work to see my boyfriend," Nasir says. "Can't speak for the next few hours, but the rest has been pretty great."

Agron tugs him closer, his arm around Nasir's waist, and kisses him again. Nasir lets it linger for a moment, his hand coming up to frame Agron's face, and then pulls back. 

"I need to get back behind the bar," he says apologetically. "Don't go anywhere."

Gannicus spots Agron a few minutes later and hollers across the bar at him until Agron lets himself get pulled into the free shot vortex. He does his best to pace himself (Spartacus and Oenomaus are doing the same, probably more successfully), but with the sheer amount of liquor being poured he still ends up pretty drunk pretty quickly. There's a lot of hugging, a lot of profanity, and the expected amount of football nostalgia, from Crixus and Gannicus especially.

That's how the five of them know each other, originally--they all played for the same team, spaced out over their respective college years. Of all of them, Gannicus was the only one who went pro, and he retired fairly early and then bought the bar. Oenomaus and Crixus both had injuries that ended their playing careers early, though Crixus is still involved with sports, coaching at a nearby high school. Spartacus had turned out to be less concerned with football than with trying to singlehandedly right the wrongs of the world, and with Agron, it was never a professional ambition so much as a hobby turned "wait, you mean I can pay for college by getting really good at tackling people?".

Agron looks around for Nasir now and then as the night progresses, but Nasir stays on his feet almost constantly until Marcia comes in to start her shift. Because he's a fucking champ and if Gannicus doesn't give him a raise soon, he and Agron are going to have words.

Agron's sitting at a table with Saxa and Donar by that point, and when Nasir finally gets out from behind the bar Agron waves to him. Nasir stops by where Naevia's sitting first, and Agron makes himself be patient while they hug each other and talk for, like, fucking ever. When Nasir finally makes it over to him, Agron snags him and pulls him down onto his lap.

"Hi," he says, wrapping his arms securely around Nasir's waist. "You're staying here for a while, hope that's okay."

Nasir settles back against him. "As long as someone else gets _me_ a drink for a change, fine." 

Agron settles his chin on Nasir's shoulder and they both look over at Donar, who holds out for about ten seconds, then rolls his eyes and tells them both to shut their fucking faces as he heads for the bar.

It's a good night, albeit one a bunch of their group is probably going to regret in the morning. By the time things finally start winding down, a bunch of them have migrated to the big booth in the corner, because being in a booth means they don't have to stay upright on their own. Booths are fucking awesome. Nasir is not-quite-dozing against Agron's shoulder, and Crixus and Naevia are across from them, leaning against each other.

"Hey," Agron says, and nudges Crixus's foot with his under the table. "Hey, man, I want to tell you something before I forget."

Crixus opens his eyes, squinting at Agron a bit warily. "What?"

"I know we haven't always gotten along," Agron begins sincerely, and Crixus snorts a laugh. "Hey, no, serious talk--we haven't always gotten along, but I feel like we're turning a corner. A good corner. I mean, I'm gonna be in your wedding, that's, like, serious friendship stuff."

Crixus looks confused and doesn't respond at first, long enough for Agron to start feeling awkward. "Who says you're in the wedding?" he finally asks.

Agron frowns. "Nasir's in the wedding. Naevia asked him."

Crixus frowns back at him. "What, so I automatically have to let you be one of my groomsmen just 'cause your boyfriend's a bridesmaid?"

"Bridesman," Nasir says blearily, and then lifts his head from Agron's shoulder, blinking. "Wait, you're not going to let Agron be in the wedding?"

Crixus clenches his jaw stubbornly. Nasir looks at him with big dark eyes and pouts a little, and if Crixus can hold out against that, he's made of stronger stuff than Agron is.

"Who says Agron's not in the wedding?" Naevia asks without opening her eyes. "Nasir is."

Crixus looks over at her, then back at Agron and Nasir, and sighs. "Fine. You all suck, by the way. Except you," he amends, looking down at Naevia fondly.

"I love you, too, baby," Naevia says happily, nestling against his shoulder.

***

Personally, Nasir's not that big on wedding stuff. He and Agron have had a few hypothetical discussions about getting married someday, and they usually involve a courthouse, a party small enough to fit into their apartment, and an actual goddamn vacation somewhere.

Still, he's been doing his best to help Naevia and Mira out with the wedding planning. Mira's the maid of honor, but she tends to be almost as busy as Naevia, both of them juggling full-time jobs and volunteer work before they even get to the wedding stuff. So Nasir helps keep the giant wedding spreadsheet organized, emails vendors and offers his opinion on color swatches, and generally tries to be the best bridesman (which is totally a word, and he will fight anyone who says otherwise) he can.

A lot of people have been helping out, which is great. Spartacus' friend Varro and his wife run a little inn near the venue, so they can get a good deal on a block of rooms. Chadara's offered to take pictures for free as a wedding present. Gannicus would be deeply wounded if they let anyone but him supply the alcohol. The whole thing's coming together like a patchwork quilt of contributions from their friends, and Nasir thinks that if you're going to go in for the whole big wedding thing, this is the way to do it.

In the meantime, non-wedding-planning life goes on. Nasir finally has a date set for his thesis defense. He's not too worried about the defense itself--he's put blood, sweat, and tears into his thesis and it's good, okay--but life after grad school is still kind of uncertain territory. 

It's not that he didn't go into this with a plan, but his original plan involved living with a boyfriend who paid all the bills, leaving Nasir free to do things like work part-time and pursue an MA in literature without knowing exactly what he'd do with it. When said boyfriend turned out to be a controlling asshole and Nasir finally got up the nerve to walk out, trying to stick it out in his program got harder and seemed a lot more impractical, but it was also one of the few things Nasir had left that was _his_. Finishing became a point of pride, something he had to do if only so he'd know he could.

He's got a lot more than that now. He's got an amazing group of people in his life, both the ones who helped him land on his feet after The Breakup--Lugo and Chadara and Gannicus, the very people he'd come close to alienating because his asshole ex didn't like them--and the friends he's made since then. He started taking on more responsibility at work, and Gannicus frequently tells him he wouldn't even know how to run the bar anymore if Nasir weren't there keeping things on track. He and Agron have been living together for a few months now, and Nasir wishes nothing so much as that he could go back in time and tell his younger self that _this_ is what love's supposed to be like. 

He has all of that. And pretty soon, he's going to have an advanced degree he has no idea what to do with. He doesn't necessarily need to do anything with it, he could happily keep going with the way things are right now. But it seems like after everything he went through to get the degree he should use it for _something_.

Since they started living together, he and Agron have been settling into a schedule, trying to figure out the best way to get all their respective stuff done and still spend time together, and part of that is trying to eat dinner together at least a couple of times a week. On weeknights Nasir tries to stick to shifts that end fairly early (though of course he'll switch with Marcia or Castus if they need him to), and having something to get home for gives Agron extra incentive to get out of the office on time (for all that he bitches about Spartacus being a workaholic, he can be just as bad). It's one of the ways they carve out time to spend with each other--when they're having dinner together, they don't do anything else. It may only last half an hour or so before Agron turns his attention to unfinished paperwork and Nasir sets up camp in the living room, curled up on the couch with his laptop in front of him and three or four books spread out on the coffee table. But however long dinner lasts, it's their time, and they both guard it jealously.

Tonight, Nasir gets home to find Agron sitting at the table with his laptop in front of him and the whole apartment smelling really fucking good. Agron put some kind of stew together in their slow cooker the night before, and Nasir got it set up and cooking this morning. He's not totally sure what's in it, but it's probably going to be delicious--Agron's arsenal of recipes isn't huge, but the ones he knows, he does well.

When Nasir was still with The Ex, he used to spend a lot of time playing househusband. His bartending schedule was pretty light back then, and at home if he wasn't busy with coursework he was probably busy cleaning and cooking and running errands. It was nice at first--Nasir really likes being domestic, likes doing things for and taking care of the people in his life. But eventually, it was just one more thing The Ex used to control him. With Agron that desire to be domestic and take care of things surfaced again, and he was a little surprised at first when Agron matched it with his own. They share all the household duties, they take care of each other, and sometimes Nasir's struck all over again how much better it is this way.

He puts his stuff down and walks over to drape himself over Agron from behind, arms around his shoulders and face tilted down to breathe in the scent of his hair and press a kiss to the top of his head.

"Hey, baby," Agron says, leaning back against him.

"Hey," Nasir says. "How was your day?"

"Pretty good," Agron says, tilting his head back until he can look at Nasir. "Yours?"

"Fine," Nasir answers. He leans over to kiss Agron on the mouth, a little awkwardly because of the angle, then moves away and toward the kitchen. There's just a half-wall separating it from the rest of the apartment, so he can still see and talk to Agron while he pulls some stuff out of the fridge and starts throwing together a salad. "You ready to eat in a minute?"

"Yeah," Agron says, turning his attention back to his screen. "Just checking out the calendar--Duro and I talked today about him coming to visit soon, so I'm looking for a good window for that. I'm guessing after you're done with school would be best?"

"Yeah, probably." Nasir loves Duro, and he loves it when Duro comes to stay with them, but having him here during the Thesis Final Countdown would be...bad. "It'll be great to see him, though."

Agron keeps poking at his laptop a minute longer, then sets it aside when Nasir starts bringing stuff to the table. "We should do something with just the two of us after your defense, too," he says. "Something to celebrate."

Nasir huffs out a breath. "Fuck, I'm going to celebrate by napping for twenty-four hours straight. You can join in if you want."

Agron snags his hand and brings it to his lips. "Twenty-four hours straight in bed with you? I guess I can get behind that idea."

They clean up together after dinner, and while they're both standing by the sink Agron dries his hands and puts one on Nasir's back, rubbing gently between his shoulderblades and curling around the back of his neck.

"What's the rest of your night look like?" he asks softly.

Nasir leans into the touch. "Not bad. I'm ahead of schedule on thesis edits, and I promised Mira I'd proofread some new pamphlets for the crisis center, but I can do that tomorrow." He looks up at Agron with a smile. "So if you've got any ideas, I could be persuaded."

Agron lets his hand run down to Nasir's hip, fingers slipping under the hem of his shirt. "I might have a couple."

They finish cleaning up in a hurry, and Nasir turns to Agron and goes up on his toes to kiss him, hands on his shoulders. Agron takes hold of his waist and lifts, and Nasir gasps as he wraps his legs around Agron's waist. This always drives him fucking crazy, Agron's hands holding Nasir securely against him and just the fact that he's strong enough to lift Nasir so easily. He wraps his arms around Agron's neck, deepening the kiss as Agron carries him out of the kitchen.

They bump into a couple of things on their way to the bedroom, but Agron holds Nasir steady, not putting him down until he can drop him on the bed. Nasir pulls his t-shirt over his head in a hurry while Agron tugs his sneakers off, then scrambles to his knees to start on the buttons of Agron's shirt. 

Agron reaches around and gently tugs at Nasir's hair until it falls loose around his face, tangling his fingers in it and kissing him fiercely. His other hand runs down to palm Nasir's ass through his jeans, pulling him closer, and Nasir presses himself against Agron's hip, half-hard already. It's been a few days since they got up to anything more than kissing, and they're both a little frantic right now.

Their sex life has fallen by the wayside a little lately. With everything he has to get done, Nasir's been coming to bed long after Agron, and attempts at sex earlier in the evening followed by thesis time haven't been too successful--it takes a lot of willpower to get back out of bed and go do work when there's sleepy, postcoital cuddling to be had. Nasir's hoping he can rearrange his schedule to better fit Agron's after his defense. He misses going to bed _with_ him, instead of slipping in and trying not to wake him hours later, and he knows Agron misses it, too. For now, they make up for lost time when they can, with Friday nights in and lazy Sunday mornings and the occasional weeknight opportunity seized upon, like right now.

Nasir has Agron down to his undershirt, trailing kisses along his collarbone, and Agron has his hand stuck down the back of Nasir's jeans, and of course that's when Nasir's phone starts ringing. 

"Fuck," he mutters into Agron's skin. 

"Leave it," Agron pants in his ear.

Nasir would really like to, but his mind is already running through all the reasons he might regret that. It could be Castus needing someone to cover for him at the bar on short notice. It could be Naevia with some kind of wedding crisis. It could be the center with some kind of more serious crisis. The ringing finally stops, but a minute later it's followed by a voicemail notification.

"Just let me make sure it's not an emergency," he says, reaching into his pocket. 

Agron groans, but doesn't offer any other protest, and Nasir kisses the side of his neck apologetically as he lifts the phone to his ear. Agron stays close, running his hand up and down Nasir's back, and then Nasir reaches back to grab his arm and still it as he listens to the voicemail.

"Oh, shit," he says softly, and looks up to meet Agron's concerned gaze. "Mira and Spartacus broke up."

"What?" Agron asks, and then his own phone beeps with a text notification, and he lets go of Nasir to grab it and check the screen. "...Shit." 

Nasir's body is still protesting the lack of sex that's supposed to be happening, but he reaches for his discarded shirt. "Naevia's with her already, but I think I should--" he starts, at the same time as Agron says, "Crixus is taking him out for a beer, do you mind if I--?"

They look at each other for a moment, exchanging rueful smiles, and Agron reaches to pull Nasir close again, hands curling around his hips. 

"I love you a whole fucking lot," he says softly, leaning his forehead against Nasir's. "You know that, right?"

Nasir reaches up to frame Agron's face with his hands. "Yeah. I love you, too," he says, and leans in for a quick kiss. "See you in a while."

The thing about this that really sucks...okay, there are a bunch of things about this that really suck, chiefly that two of his best friends are hurting, and also the fact that Crixus and Naevia's best man and maid of honor just broke up a few months before their wedding. But among the morass of suckiness here, Nasir thinks as he heads for Mira's apartment, is how Agron had seemed sad but not really surprised. He's confessed doubts to Nasir about how long Mira and Spartacus were going to last, and Nasir knows he's not the only one of their friends who had them. According to pretty much everyone, Spartacus has never gotten over his wife's death enough to make it work with anyone else.

Nasir never met Sura. He knows how awful her death was for Spartacus to go through, and everyone who knew her says she was amazing. But Mira's amazing, too, and Nasir kept hoping everyone would be wrong about her and Spartacus.

Naevia lets him in when he gets to Mira's. Mira's sitting in the middle of the couch, curled in on herself, and as soon as the door's shut Naevia goes back to the couch and wraps both arms around her waist. Nasir goes to sit down on Mira's other side, putting an arm around her shoulders. 

They sit like that, all tangled up together, and Naevia squeezes Mira gently and asks, "You want to talk about it?"

"We were just...we had the same talk we've had a hundred times," Mira says. "About us still not being on the same page about our relationship, about how I don't blame him for it but I hate being jealous of a dead woman, and..." she pauses, drawing in a shaky breath. "And then we both just admitted we couldn't really see it getting better."

"Ending it now was the right call, then," Naevia tells her gently. "I know that probably doesn't help--"

"No, you're right, we probably should have done it a long time ago," Mira says, raising one hand to rub at her eyes. "Preferably before you and Crixus asked us to be in your wedding together. Fuck, Naevia, I'm sorry."

"Don't you dare worry about the wedding," Naevia tells her. "Not right now." 

"Okay," Mira says, and lets out a sigh. "I feel like such an idiot. I knew what I was getting into, but I just kept hoping if I stuck it out long enough, it would turn into what I wanted it to be."

"That doesn't make you an idiot," Nasir tells her. "Or if it does, I'm one, too, because I was rooting for you."

Mira leans her head against his. Nasir hugs her tight, and they sit quietly for a while.

"Can I get you anything?" he says after a few minutes. "Tea? Booze? A punching bag?"

She smiles faintly. "I'm okay for now. Thanks."

"I'm gonna stay here tonight," Naevia tells him, and he nods, glad to know Mira won't be alone.

He gets home pretty late and finds Agron waiting up in bed for him. Nasir toes his shoes off and collapses onto the bed on his stomach, and Agron puts a hand on his back.

"Hey," he says softly. "How's Mira?"

"Dealing about as well as she can, I think," Nasir says, muffled by a pillow. "How's Spartacus?"

"He feels like shit," Agron tells him. "Which I can't say is totally undeserved. He said he might go stay upstate with Varro and Aurelia this weekend. So, y'know, if we want to spend some time with Mira that won't be too horribly awkward."

"Okay," Nasir says, hating that that's something they have to take into consideration now. He realizes there are tears welling up in his eyes and turns his head to wipe them away. He's angry with himself for crying, but he's been feeling a little overwhelmed by life in general lately, easily pushed to his breaking point.

"Hey," Agron says softly, bending over him. He smoothes Nasir's hair away from his face and rubs at the wetness on his cheek with a thumb. 

"I'm okay," Nasir says quickly, trying to get himself under control, which of course just makes the crying worse. 

"No, you're not," Agron says, tugging at his shoulder gently. "Come here." 

Nasir rolls over and Agron gathers him close, rubbing his back through his t-shirt, and Nasir rests his head on Agron's chest and just breathes for a while. 

"I just hate that there's nothing I can _do_ ," he says eventually. "At least, nothing that'll fix it." 

"I know," Agron replies. "Me, too."

He knows Agron gets it. They're both doers and helpers, they both feel the same drive to always be active and useful. Few things drive them both crazy like people they love having problems they can't fix. 

Nasir's been pretty focused on Mira so far, but he feels for Spartacus, too. He can't imagine what it must be like to go through what he did when he lost Sura. Just the thought of it makes him cling tighter to Agron, who squeezes him in response.

"And I wanted them to make it," Nasir adds after a moment. "Maybe that was just me being naive, but...I wanted them to beat the odds."

"I wish they had," Agron replies softly. He skims a hand along the edge of Nasir's jaw and touches his chin, and Nasir lifts his head off Agron's chest to look at him. Agron pushes Nasir's hair back when it falls in his face and cups his cheek gently

"We're gonna get through this, okay?" he says, and Nasir knows he means all of them, the whole little family they've made for themselves. "We'll figure it out together."

Nasir stretches up to kiss him, then tucks his face against Agron's neck. "Love you," he murmurs. 

Agron wraps Nasir up in his arms, stroking his hair with one hand. "I love you, too."

***

Agron's a little surprised by it, but Crixus is sticking by his drunken agreement to make him a groomsman. Less surprisingly, the other guys he's asked are Gannicus and Barca, with Diona and Saxa rounding out the wedding party on Naevia's side.

And then there's Spartacus and Mira. A few weeks after the breakup, and they met for coffee and had a long talk, and since then they've both sworn up and down that they can still be best man and maid of honor without it being awkward. They both seem determined for their friendship to make it through this intact, and Agron wishes them luck. He's never really stayed friends with any of his exes--they range from "amicable breakup but didn't stay in touch" to "let's never speak of this person's existence again"--but Spartacus and Mira were good friends before they started dating, and it would really suck if they didn't manage to hang onto that now. 

As for whether or not they can be in the wedding together without it being weird, they've still got some time to mull that one over, since it's not until later in the summer. Which Agron is also glad of for his as Nasir's sake, since it gives them a nice amount of breathing room between crunch time for Nasir's thesis and full-tilt wedding madness.

When Nasir's thesis defense rolls around, he kicks ass at it, as if there were ever any doubt. He takes the Saturday after that off work, and while he and Agron don't exactly make it to twenty-four hours in bed, they give it a shot, and there's sleeping in and breakfast in bed and sex that manages to feel lazy and intense at the same time. Agron has some work to catch up on later, but he does it from bed. Next to him, Nasir reads for a while but then dozes off, and Agron lets him sleep. Nasir doesn't usually let himself laze around this much--he starts to feel guilty if he isn't doing something productive, which Agron gets, but he's definitely earned some downtime. Agron gets a decent amount of work done while he's still napping, which is good because when Nasir wakes up he stretches like a cat and leans over to rub his face on Agron's thigh.

"What time is it?" Nasir mumbles.

"Little bit after one," Agron tells him, reaching down to stroke his hair with one hand while he saves his work and puts his laptop on the nightstand with the other. "You hungry?"

"A little, but I still don't feel like getting out of bed yet," Nasir tells him.

"I could go make you something," Agron offers.

Nasir rolls over so that he's sprawled between Agron's legs, curling a hand around the base of his cock. "Don't really want you to get out of bed, either."

Agron grins, threading his fingers gently through Nasir's hair. "Have I mentioned that self-indulgence and unbridled hedonism is a really good look on you? Because it is."

Nasir hums gently, sliding his mouth down over Agron's cock. Agron draws in a breath, letting his eyes flutter closed. Nasir twists his hand around the base of his cock and works the shaft, setting a fast rhythm, and Agron lets his hips rock upward just a little, matching Nasir's pace.

"Fuck, baby," Agron breathes, strands of dark hair slipping through his fingers. "You--your fucking mouth-- _fuck_."

Nasir likes when Agron talks to him while does this, even though--or maybe especially because--it's not usually much more than a bunch of loosely-strung-together endearments and profanity. He moans around Agron, eyelashes fluttering on his cheeks, and Agron can see his hips hitching against the bed. He gathers Nasir's hair up in one hand to hold it away from his face, and trails his other hand down until it touches Nasir's mouth, stretched wide around his cock.

When Nasir pulls off and sits up, Agron lets out a whine of protest, until Nasir moves up the bed to settle in his lap, straddling him and leaning in close.

"I want to ride you," he says in Agron's ear, and Agron grips him tight around the waist and kisses him fiercely, his free hand already groping for the nightstand drawer.

Nasir takes the lube from him when he gets hold of it, slicking his fingers up and then tossing the bottle carelessly on the bed. He lifts up on his knees and reaches between his legs, and Agron doesn't know whether to watch the movement of his hand or his face, brow furrowed, lower lip caught between his teeth.

Nasir takes his time. He can be impatient with this sometimes, prepping himself hastily or urging Agron to hurry, but now he draws it out, leaning in to kiss Agron now and then as he works himself open. Agron holds onto his waist with one hand and slides his other over Nasir's chest, tweaking his nipples and then trailing over his shoulders and arms, all smooth warm skin and lean muscle. Nasir's not so much kissing him now as just panting into Agron's mouth, pressing his forehead to Agron's. Agron reaches down to take hold of Nasir's cock, hard and flushed against his stomach, and gives it a few strokes.

"You ready?" he asks, and Nasir nods. He pulls his fingers out and grabs the lube again, squeezing some into his palm and taking hold of Agron's cock to slick it up. He grabs the headboard with his other hand and lifts up on his knees, and Agron curls both hands around his hips to steady him. Nasir sinks down in one slow, easy motion, and Agron gasps at the sensation, fingers tightening on his hips.

Nasir drops his face into the curve of Agron's neck, pressing tiny, soft kisses to the skin there, and holds himself still in Agron's lap. Agron wraps his arms around Nasir's back and kisses his hair, waiting for him to move. Sex with Nasir is never not amazing, and when it's rushed and frantic it can be be hot as hell, but Agron likes it best like this, when it's unhurried and easy and they can get lost in each other.

After a few moments, Nasir moves, lifting up a little and then sinking down again. Agron thrusts up to meet him, pulling a breathless moan from Nasir. They find a rhythm, Nasir riding Agron with slow, easy rolls of his hips, Agron rocking up into him with one hand splayed on the small of Nasir's back. Nasir keeps hold of the headboard with one hand and cups the back of Agron's head with the other, fingers running through his hair. He mouths at Agron's shoulder, teeth scraping his skin, until Agron turns his head, angling for a kiss.

Agron wraps his hand around Nasir's cock again, stroking it and rubbing his thumb over the head. Nasir moans and picks up his pace, his breath coming faster and his thighs shaking a little as he keeps moving against Agron.

"That's it," Agron coaxes gently, adding a little twist to the movement of his hand. "That's it, baby, come on. Come for me."

Nasir buries his face in Agron's neck again, crying out and shuddering as he comes. He clenches around Agron's cock and that sends Agron over the edge; he lets out a loud moan and grips Nasir tight, spilling inside him. Nasir slumps forward against Agron's chest, twining his arms around his neck, and they stay pressed together like that, sweaty and messy and both way too blissed-out to care.

Nasir lets out a breathless little laugh against Agron's skin. "Fuck," he says softly. "I need a shower. And now I'm definitely hungry enough to get out of bed."

Agron joins him in the shower, then makes lunch while Nasir changes their sheets and starts a load of laundry. They both putter around doing housework for a while, and when they go to the gym later it's the first time either of them has left the apartment all day.

Mira calls Agron while they're on the way home. "Hey. I know this is short notice, but I was thinking of doing brunch tomorrow."

"That sounds great," Agron says, smiling. Mira's been hosting periodic Sunday brunches for as long as Agron's known her, but she hasn't done one since she and Spartacus broke up.

A few of the others are already there when they get to Mira's the next morning. Nasir goes to help Mira in the kitchen, but when Agron follows Mira hands him a mimosa and tells him to get lost, because her kitchen is tiny and they have it covered. Back in the living room, Crixus, Saxa, and Donar are engaged in an intense discussion about hockey playoffs; it hasn't devolved into raised voices and name-calling yet, but it's probably only a matter of time, so Agron steers clear of that and walks over to where Chadara's excitedly telling Naevia about the gallery showing she has coming up. 

Mira and Nasir are just starting to bring stuff out from the kitchen when there's a knock on the door. Mira goes to open it, and Agron's a little surprised to see Spartacus standing there. 

"I come bearing pastries," Spartacus says, holding up the bakery box he's carrying as if it's a peace offering.

Mira smiles crookedly. "Hey. Glad you made it."

There's still a noticeable awkwardness to their interaction, but Mira seems genuinely glad to see him and Spartacus is smiling as he walks through the door. It's a start.

***

Duro comes into town a week later. It's an open-ended visit and he's made vague noises about moving to New York in the past, so Nasir wouldn't be too surprised if "open-ended" turns into "permanent". Which would be great--Agron and Nasir would both love having him live closer--but if Duro stays he's going to have to go apartment-hunting eventually. Nasir loves him like his own brother, but he wouldn't be on board with Adar moving in permanently, either.

For the short-term, though, it's not bad. They've got a second bedroom, so Duro's not stuck on the couch, and he cleans up after himself and bakes, which is a definite plus. His stint working in a bakery a few years ago might not have panned out, but it wasn't for lack of skill in the kitchen.

Duro's tried a bunch of different things out in the time Nasir's known him. He hasn't been bad at any of them, exactly, just hasn't found one he wants to stick with. He always says he's still looking for the right job, and Nasir's not really sure what his criteria for that is. But hey, he's got an MA he still doesn't know what to do with and a job that started as a part-time gig and turned into something more permanent entirely by accident, so he's not going to criticize Duro's methods.

His latest thing is photography, apparently. He has a fancy camera that looks fairly new, and he takes a million pictures of everything--Agron and Nasir as they move around the apartment, everyone at the bar when he tags along with Nasir and hangs out there, random stuff on the street that catches his eye. He's putting together a portfolio, but Nasir doesn't think he's shown it to anyone yet, even Agron. 

Duro finally broaches the subject one night while he and Nasir are in the kitchen, Nasir fixing dinner on the stove while Duro mixes cake batter. Nasir moves aside to let him put the cake pan in the oven, and as Duro straightens up, he asks, "Hey, so, Agron says you have a friend who's a photographer?"

Nasir nods, moving to get plates out of the cabinet. "Yeah, Chadara." 

"Do you think she'd be willing to meet up and talk to me about--well, whether or not I suck at this, basically?" Duro asks. "I'm prepared to make it worth her while with cake."

"I'm sure you don't suck at it," Nasir says. "But yeah, I'll ask her."

"So does that mean you're actually going to show someone your portfolio?" Agron asks as he comes into the kitchen.

Duro looks over at him and smirks. "Meaning that if I'm going to show it to Nasir's friend, I should show you, too?"

Agron shrugs. "I'm just saying, between Chadara and myself, only one of us is your flesh and blood who's always supported you in all your endeavors."

Duro rolls his eyes. "Yeah, and one of you is also a shameless guilt-tripper."

Agron pouts, and Nasir holds a plate out to him. "Food now. Guilt-tripping later."

Nasir calls Chadara after dinner, runs the idea by her and gives her Duro's number so they can set something up. Agron lets it lie for the rest of the evening, but Nasir can tell it's still bugging him that Duro hasn't shown him anything yet.

"I mean, I get it, sort of," he says later, while he and Nasir are getting ready for bed. "It's his new thing and he's worried about how it's going to be received when he starts showing it to people, and as long as he keeps it to himself, he can put off dealing with that. I just..." 

"Feel like you should be a special exception because you're his big brother?" Nasir asks.

Agron pouts again, which, given that he's a grown man, shouldn't be nearly as endearing as it is. "Well, _yeah_."

Nasir settles on the bed behind Agron and slips his arms around his waist, resting his chin on Agron's shoulder. "Babe, I'm pretty sure it's even more intimidating for him to show you _because_ you're his big brother. You're the person whose opinion matters most to him. He'll show you when he's ready, and you need to be patient with him until then."

Agron cranes his neck to look at Nasir, smiling faintly. "I guess you understand the little brother mindset better than I do," he says. 

"Mm-hm," Nasir agrees, and leans in to kiss his cheek. "Between that and understanding you and Duro both pretty well by now, you should probably just assume I'm right and listen to everything I say."

Agron turns and pushes Nasir down on the bed, tangling their fingers to pin Nasir's hands on either side of them. "Bossy."

Nasir smiles winningly. "You love it."

"Yeah, I do," Agron says, and kisses him.

Nasir gets a call from Chadara a couple of days later, while he's taking stock in the back room at the bar. He used to be a lot more nervous about taking personal calls at work, but, well, then he got to know his boss a little better.

"How come you've never _once_ told me how hot Duro is?" she asks as soon as he picks up.

"You know what? That's a good question," Nasir says. "I should really spend more time talking about how hot my boyfriend's brother is. I take it you two met up."

"We got coffee," Chadara tells him. "He's going to come to my gallery showing, and I'm going to introduce him to some people."

"That's great!" Nasir says. "You think his stuff's good, then?"

"I think you can tell he's only been into photography for a while," Chadara says thoughtfully. "But he's got a good eye, and that counts for a lot."

Nasir smiles into his phone. "Thanks for talking to him."

"Hey, I got to have coffee and talk photography with a cute guy, it wasn't exactly a hardship for me," Chadara points out.

Nasir grins. "And we're back to that."

"Seriously, though, how is it that he and Agron really don't look that much alike, but they're both gorgeous?" she says. "We should conduct a thorough study of their genetics. For science."

Nasir makes a face. "Chadara, if you're planning to try and get my potential future brother-in-law into bed, I support you and wish you well, but can you not talk about it in terms of 'we'?"

"Oh, I'm not planning to _try_ ," Chadara replies sweetly.

"I'm hanging up now," Nasir informs her.

When he gets home that night, Agron and Duro are sitting side-by-side on the couch, bent over something that turns out, when Nasir gets closer, to be a stack of glossy photographs.

"Hey," Nasir says when Agron looks up and smiles at him. "Are those--?"

Duro nods. "I got some prints made to show Chadara," he says. "And I figure now that I have them, I may as well show Agron before he runs out of patience and steals my camera."

"I wasn't gonna do that," Agron protests, and then adds in a lower voice, "Probably."

Nasir grins as he squeezes onto the couch next to Agron, and Agron passes him the photos he's already looked at. As Nasir flips through them, he can see what Chadara means about Duro having a good eye. He looks through a series of shots he remembers Duro taking at the Arena one night--himself and Castus mugging for the camera, Marcia smiling brightly as she chats with a patron, Gannicus and Lugo arm-wrestling on the bar--and he's amazed by how well Duro's captured the feeling of being there.

Then there's a series of candid shots of him and Agron at home. Nasir remembers these being taken, too, Duro telling them to just act natural and Agron grousing that someone pointing a camera at you and telling you to act natural made it kind of hard to do that. Nasir lingers on one in particular, where he's sprawled out on the couch with his head in Agron's lap--he'd fallen asleep halfway through the movie they'd watched that night. Duro framed the shot so that the focus is on Agron's face, and he's looking down at Nasir with this soft, warm expression. Nasir's seen that look firsthand countless times, but having it captured on film is somehow different, special.

"Can I have a copy of this one?" he asks, fingers tracing lightly over the image of Agron's face.

"Really?" Duro asks, sounding pleased.

"Yeah," Nasir says. "I'll buy it if you want, make it your first sale."

Duro grins across the couch at him. "Nah, you get the family discount. Also known as the 'Agron would punch me if I tried to take your money' discount."

"That's right," Agron says, ruffling his hair.

Nasir grins at them both, leaning forward to set the print down on the table. "What do you guys want to do for dinner? I think we need a grocery run."

"Yeah, the kitchen's kind of bleak right now," Agron says. "Takeout?"

Nasir settles back on the couch and pulls out his phone. "Sounds good to me."

***

The week of the wedding finally arrives. Everyone coming in from out of town arrives--Crixus' older brothers, Diona, Barca and his husband Pietros--and suddenly everything becomes a blur of last-minute shit that needs to be done. Agron and Nasir pick up their tuxes and wrap their gifts and spend an evening at Crixus and Naevia's helping put together favors in exchange for free pizza and beer.

On Thursday, they cram into a rented minivan along with Duro, Mira, Saxa, Chadara, all their suitcases, and several bins of wedding stuff Naevia's entrusted them with. Agron's a little dubious about the wisdom of combining all of the above in a confined space for several hours, but they make it to Varro and Aurelia's place unscathed.

Friday there's a lot of setting-up to be done at the venue, and then the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, after which a big group of them go out together. Naevia and Crixus aren't doing separate parties--it's not their style, and anyone who knows them at all well knows that. Agron almost wishes that wasn't the case, because it would be kind of amazing to see Crixus' reaction if someone suggested he go out and celebrate his "last night of freedom" before marrying Naevia.

They start with fancy cocktails at this place that's pretentious as fuck but sort of charming about it, and hit up a few different places before ending up at a dive that has bad lighting and rude bartenders, but also amazing nachos and a decent jukebox selection.

Agron's sitting at the bar trying not to look at the corner where Duro and Chadara are making out when Nasir comes up behind him. He slides his arms around Agron's waist and rubs his cheek against his shoulder, and Agron leans back against him.

"Hey."

"Hey," Nasir says. "You know what we should do?"

"I have a feeling you're about to tell me," Agron replies. Nasir's at the point of just drunk enough to get a little more handsy than he usually would in public, and Agron covers Nasir's hands with his own before they can wander anywhere too inappropriate.

Nasir leans over his shoulder and lets his teeth graze the skin of Agron's ear before he whispers, "We should go back to the inn and take advantage of the fact that we sprung for a room all to ourselves."

Agron sits up very straight and signals to the bartender to close out their tab, and Nasir laughs softly, hooking his fingers into Agron's belt loops. They pass Mira on their way out, sitting at a table with Saxa. Agron pauses to let her know they're heading back, and she grins and salutes them with her beer.

They barely get through the door to their room before Nasir pushes Agron up against it and drops to his knees. Agron sucks in a breath and lets his head fall back against the door, threading a hand into Nasir's hair, and it's fast and messy and completely mind-blowing. As soon as Nasir gets to his feet Agron cups his face in both hands and kisses him roughly, backing them toward the bed.

They lose most of their clothing on the way over, and the rest of it after they tumble onto the bed, hands moving restlessly over each other's bodies. Nasir pulls Agron so close there's no space between them, skin-on-skin, arms and legs tangling, and they lie like that and just kiss for a few minutes until Agron pulls back a little.

"Want you to fuck me," he murmurs, and Nasir makes an eager noise and kisses him again. Agron rolls to the side, reaching for the lube they stowed in the nightstand last night. Nasir grabs for it, his other hand settling on Agron's shoulder to press him down. Agron stretches out on his stomach, spreading his legs so Nasir can kneel between them.

Nasir smoothes a hand over Agron's back gently, bending to press a kiss to the space between his shoulderblades. Agron reaches back with one arm until he feels Nasir's hair under his fingers, and Nasir stays where he is for a few moments, nuzzling at Agron's skin, before he moves down further. Agron hears him pop the cap on the lube, and a moment later slick fingers are circling his entrance, rubbing gently before pressing in.

Nasir takes his time, going slow and patient until he's got three fingers inside and Agron is pressing back against him, breath coming in ragged gasps. He stretches up to kiss the back of Agron's neck and murmur in his ear.

"You ready for me?" he asks, and when Agron nods Nasir twists his fingers inside him one more time before pulling out. "Want to get on top?"

Agron nods and Nasir moves to settle back against the pillows, squeezing some more lube into his palm and fisting his cock almost lazily. Agron bats his hand away as he swings a leg over Nasir's hips, curling his own hand around the base of Nasir's cock as he positions himself.

He lets himself sink down slowly, breath catching on a moan as Nasir's cock presses into him. Nasir lets out a strangled cry, hands going to Agron's hips to help steady him. Agron holds still for a moment, adjusting to the stretch and pressure, then rolls his hips. Nasir rocks up to meet him and they get a rhythm going, Nasir's thrusts quick and shallow at first, then longer, deeper.

Agron bends down to take Nasir's face in his hands, kissing him deeply as they move together. Nasir runs his hands over Agron's back and sides, then brings one hand up to curl around the back of his neck.

"You feel so good," he mumbles against Agron's mouth. "So good, love you so much-- _Agron_ \--"

They stay pressed together like that, kissing and murmuring to each other, until Nasir snaps his hips up and buries his face in the curve of Agron's shoulder, muffling his cry as he comes. Agron tangles a hand in his hair and kisses the side of his face, waiting for Nasir to stop shaking before he moves off of him and grabs some tissues from the nightstand to clean up. As he settles back against the pillows, Nasir nestles against him with a contented sigh, and Agron wraps both arms around him and closes his eyes, already starting to drift off.

He doesn't know what time it is when the knock comes on their door, aside from "too damn early". He makes a loud noise of protest, but the knocking continues, and Nasir makes a grumpy noise and pokes him in the shoulder.

"Why do I have to get it?" Agron protests.

"You're on the side by the door," Nasir mutters in response, and rolls over, taking the duvet with him.

Agron sighs, but stumbles out of bed and fishes a pair of sweatpants out of his luggage. He glances at the clock on the nightstand as he goes--it's a little after five, so whoever's knocking better have a damn good reason for it.

He yanks open the door to find Spartacus, Oenomaus, and Pietros grouped together the hallway, all looking about as happy to be awake and upright as he is. "What's going on?" he asks.

"Gannicus and Barca got arrested," Spartacus tells him.

Agron just looks at him for a second, then sighs again and glances back over his shoulder. "Babe? You might want to find some clothes."

Once Nasir gets his pajama pants on (looking only mildly homicidal as he does so), Agron ushers the others into the room. "Okay, what happened?"

"We were still out after pretty much everyone else came back here," Pietros explains. "Barca and Gannicus hadn't seen each other in a while, so they were catching up, and they got drunk enough to get pretty rowdy. Gannicus got into it with some guy--I don't even really know what it was about at first, but the other guy punched Gannicus, and then Barca punched _him_ , and, well," he shrugs, "it sort of went downhill from there."

"Okay, so let's go get them out," Agron says. "The ceremony's at ten, we've got almost five hours, shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Yeah, except I followed them to the police station, tried to bail them out, and the cops let me twiddle my thumbs for a while and then told me to come back Monday morning for the arraignment," Pietros says. 

Nasir frowns. "Why--oh. Gannicus pissed them off, didn't he?"

Pietros nods. "He, uh, may have called them a bunch of fascist goatfuckers while resisting arrest. Resisting it a _lot_."

Nasir sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Yep, that sounds about right."

"So Oenomaus and I are heading down there to see what we can do," Spartacus says. "You want to come with us for moral support, or hold down the fort here?"

"By 'hold down the fort', do you mean 'explain to Crixus and Naevia why a sizeable chunk of the wedding party isn't here when they wake up'?" Nasir asks.

"Pretty much," Oenomaus says.

"Team Moral Support," Agron says at once, raising his hand.

Pietros stays with Nasir to break the news, and the rest of them pile into Spartacus' car. Agron knows his presence on this little trip is pretty extraneous--if you need people to argue with the cops on your behalf and look intimidating while they do it, you can't do much better than a one-two punch of Spartacus and Oenomaus--but that doesn't mean he can't make himself useful. There's a 24-hour convenience store across the street from the station, so while the others do their thing, he heads over and stocks up on bottled water for Gannicus and Barca and coffee for the rest of them. It's almost like a day at the office, except for the part where they're all supposed to be at a wedding in a few hours.

By the time he gets back to the car, the others are filing out of the station, Gannicus and Barca included. Barca's scowling--he's a pretty scowly guy in general, and his present circumstances can't be helping much--but Gannicus is laughing and grinning like this is all hilarious, hanging onto Oenomaus as they head for the car.

"He taught the entire drunk tank 'My Cock Rages On'," Barca informs them as they manhandle Gannicus into the car. "I'm fairly certain he's not allowed back in town ever after the wedding."

"Let's just get back and get him sober enough to stay upright during the wedding," Oenomaus says.

***

All things considered, Nasir thinks, the morning could be going worse.

He and Pietros find Melitta and Mira first--Melitta already knows what's going on, and it seems like Mira should--and the four of them break the news to Crixus and Naevia over breakfast in the bridal suite. Crixus yells and curses, of course, but Nasir is frankly more concerned by the murderous glint in Naevia's eyes and the way she's methodically tearing a croissant into tiny, tiny pieces.

"So, uh, last I heard from Agron they were at the station trying to spring Gannicus and Barca, and hopefully they'll get them and get back soon and the wedding won't be ruined," Nasir concludes.

"Please don't hurt us," Pietros adds, as Naevia just looks at them and continues her pastry dismemberment.

Of all things, that seems to calm Crixus down. "The wedding's not going to be ruined," he says in a determined tone.

Naevia glances at him with a raised eyebrow. "No?"

"No," Crixus says firmly, and reaches to cover both her hands with his. "I don't care if I don't have any groomsmen. I don't care if we lose the entire wedding party. I'm marrying you today, and as long as you're there and I'm there, it's going to be perfect."

Naevia's murderous look instantly melts into a soft, joyful smile. "You're right," she says, and leans over to kiss him, then adds as she pulls back, "But we're still going to destroy them if they're not back in time. I mean, it's the principle of the thing."

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Crixus agrees calmly, reaching for his coffee. "There's gonna be bloodshed."

Nasir pulls out his phone and fires off a text to Agron. _Please tell me it's going well. Lie if you have to._

A few moments later, he gets a reply--several in quick succession, actually. 

_got em, on our way back_

_gannicus just started making noises like he's dying_

_not sure we'll make it w/o barca trying to put him out of his misery_

"They're on their way," Nasir announces while typing. _I'm on it. Just get here._ "And we're gonna need some dry toast and a Bloody Mary."

When the prodigal groomsmen arrive, Pietros takes charge of Barca and steers him toward their room, while Nasir follows the others into the room Gannicus is sharing with Oenomaus and Melitta. Once they've force-fed Gannicus a few pieces of toast and half a Bloody Mary, Nasir and Oenomaus agree he's probably coherent enough to not drown in the shower, and he takes the remaining half a cocktail in with him, cradling it to his chest.

"All right, we did it!" Agron, who seems overcaffeinated and a little punchy at this point, declares once Gannicus is in the shower. "Go team!" 

He raises a hand for a high-five that no one takes him up on, and Nasir stifles a laugh at his crestfallen look, taking him by the arm. "Come on. You need some food, and we need to get ourselves ready."

They all manage to get showered, dressed, and over to the venue without further incident. Everything looks great, the weather's perfect, and once the rest of them are up at the altar waiting for Naevia, Nasir lets himself relax and stop waiting for things to go pear-shaped.

The music switches over to a string quartet, and Naevia appears at the end of the aisle. Her dress is long, form-fitting, and simple, her hair swept to one side and gathered at the base of her neck, and "radiant" is probably a cliche but it's the only word Nasir can think as she walks toward them. She asked Oenomaus to walk her down the aisle, and Nasir doesn't think he's ever seen him look happier. 

The ceremony's short and sweet, getting to the self-written vows without a lot of buildup. Crixus and Naevia stand hand-in-hand, facing each other, and she speaks first.

"You've shared some of the best times in my life, and been there for me during some of the hardest," she says. "You've always believed in me, and you've helped me believe in myself. I love you, and nothing in the world would make me happier than spending the rest of my life with you."

Crixus just looks at her for a moment, his eyes shining. "I didn't know it was possible for me to love someone this much until I met you," he says. "You becoming part of my life is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'm a better person because of you, and I hope I can keep improving so I can be the husband you deserve."

Nasir has to blink a couple of times to clear his eyes as they exchange rings and kiss, and he can hear Diona sniffle next to him. On the other side, Agron's trying to wipe his eyes without anyone noticing. 

They all applaud as Crixus and Naevia make their way down the aisle hand in hand, and Nasir's grinning like an idiot as the rest of them pair up and he takes Agron's arm.

The late night and early morning starts to catch up with Nasir at the reception, and he leans against Agron and waits for a second wind, because there's no way he's not dancing at Naevia's wedding. Once everyone's had some time to eat, drink, and mingle a little, Spartacus and Mira both stand up, tapping their glasses for quiet.

"Mira has graciously elected to let me go first with a speech, so that if I mess up she can swoop in and save the day," Spartacus says, raising his glass to her with a smile. "So, as many of you already know, Crixus and I first met at football practice in our freshman year of college, and as many of you also know, we more or less hated each other on sight. Sophomore year, the coach made us co-captains hoping that would help us see past our differences and work together, and, well, it didn't."

Nasir's heard about all this before--it was years before he met any of them--but it's still really weird to think of Spartacus and Crixus as anything but best friends. 

Spartacus goes on. "And then, one fateful night, Oenomaus and Melitta hosted an alumni fundraiser at their house, and Naevia was there. I'm pretty sure I've never seen anyone fall head over heels as fast as Crixus did when he met her." He pauses a moment, and then points in Nasir and Agron's direction. "Except maybe those two, but I'm saving that story for if _they_ ever get married."

Nasir turns his face against Agron's shoulder, grinning as they get a round of applause and more than one catcall. Spartacus waits for the noise to die down before he goes on.

"So, being around Crixus after he met Naevia, all of a sudden I realized that this guy I thought was a complete jerk had a bigger heart than anyone I'd ever met. And knowing that and being able to understand him better turned out to be the start of our becoming friends. So in a way, I've got Naevia to thank for one of the best friendships of my life."

He turns to look at Crixus and Naevia, his expression turning solemn. "I don't need to tell any of you how much they love each other. If you're here, you're part of their lives in some way, which means you probably already know. I will say that there have been times in my life when it hasn't been that easy for me to believe in love, or hope, or happy endings, but no matter what, I've always been able to look at them and keep believing." Spartacus smiles and raises his glass. "So here's to happy endings."

Naevia looks like she's about to start crying, and Crixus gets to his feet and pulls Spartacus into a tight hug. There's another round of applause, and as it dies down Mira turns to Spartacus and shakes her head with a wry smile.

"Thanks for giving me something like _that_ to follow," she says, and then turns to face the room. "This is, again, something a lot of you already know: Naevia and I were both in foster care growing up. And when you grow up like that...people move in and out of your life, and you can end up afraid to get attached to anyone. Naevia and I lived together for a while when we were kids, and after that we were in and out of each other's lives for a long time. But we always managed to reconnect and hang onto our friendship, and, well, here we are. In a very real way, she's not just my best friend, she's my sister." 

Naevia's definitely crying now, grabbing for the pocket square from Crixus' jacket to dab at her eyes with, and Nasir feels like he's about to start.

"So, of course, when Crixus came into Naevia's life I had to make sure he was good enough for her, and he's always passed with flying colors," Mira goes on. "I can say with complete confidence that he's been the best boyfriend a girl could ask for, and I know he'll be an equally good husband. I would say I've gained a brother but to be honest, I already thought of him as one. And that's the lesson I took from being a foster kid, that you get to make your own family. It doesn't have to be people who share your blood--it can be, and that's great, but if you're not lucky enough to have that, you make your own family from the people who share your life. This--" she gestures around at the table, "is my family, and I've never been prouder or happier to call them that than I am today." She raises her glass, smiling brilliantly. "To my family."

Beaming through her tears, Naevia gets to her feet and pulls Mira into a hug as the room applauds.

"Fuck, now I'm a mess," Agron mutters, and Nasir turns to see him wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "This sucks. Weddings are dumb." 

Nasir laughs, wiping his own eyes, and leans over to kiss his cheek.

Spartacus and Mira's speeches are far from the last tear-inducing moment of the night. Gannicus gives what's not so much a speech as a series of drunken but very earnest professions of love for the bride and groom, and Melitta calls Naevia the daughter she and Oenomaus never had. There's Crixus and Naevia's first dance, and them feeding each other cake, which is a tradition Nasir's always thought was kind of silly but of course when they do it it's perfect and stupidly adorable.

Chadara swoops around with her camera, getting pictures of everything. Nasir makes Agron dance with him, and sees Pietros doing the same with Barca and Diona doing her best to drag anyone she sees sitting down onto the floor. 

At one point, Nasir and Agron head step out into the hallway to get some air (which, okay, may be partly code for making out, a little) only to literally stumble on Mira and Saxa kissing intently, Mira's hands in Saxa's hair and Saxa's dangerously close to Mira's hemline.

"Uh," Nasir says as they pull apart.

Mira buries her face in Saxa's shoulder with an embarrassed laugh. "Oh, shit." 

"Wow," Agron says. 

Saxa flips him off. "Quit staring, asshole. And get lost, this hallway is taken."

"Okay, but, like--you realize you're in public, right? Not exactly ideal if you don't want people staring?"

Nasir elbows him into silence. "Yeah, we're gonna...go."

"Thanks," Mira says, still not looking up, but Nasir can tell she's smiling. 

"Wow," Nasir says after they duck back into the main room.

"Yeah," Agron concurs. "I mean, I knew Saxa had a thing for Mira, but she was worried about making a move too soon after the breakup."

"Mira seems pretty glad she did," Nasir says with a grin, then takes Agron's hands with a smile. "So, you want to go see if we can find a hallway that's not taken?"

Finally, when Crixus and Naevia have made their exit and the sugar rush from eating too much cake has turned into a crash, Nasir and Agron make it back to their room at the inn and collapse into bed together.

"Hey." Agron rolls onto his side and curls around Nasir. "So I know we're both a little loopy right now and this may not be the best time, but I've been thinking about something."

"What?" Nasir asks.

"We should get married," Agron tells him. "Like, not hypothetically, for real. I want to marry you."

Nasir looks up at him and feels a soft smile start to grow on his face. "Okay. With a wedding and everything?"

"Yeah," Agron says eagerly. "Unless you don't want a wedding."

Nasir shrugs. "I could go either way. I thought _you_ didn't want a wedding."

"It's never really been the wedding I object to, I just don't want to get caught up in a bunch of bullshit that's not really that important," Agron explains. "I don't want to...y'know, have dumb fights about table linens or what font to put on the invitations, or pay someone a bunch of money to take pictures of us in stupid poses in the park or some shit."

Nasir raises an eyebrow. "You really think we'd get into fights over linens and fonts?"

"I _know_ we would," Agron says. "We'd both be all 'oh, whatever you want, baby, I don't care that much' and then one of us would suggest something the other didn't like and it would be like combining our bookshelves all over again."

Nasir makes a face. "I still can't believe you even _suggested_ we do it by color."

Agron leans over and kisses the scowl off his face. "I mostly did that to get a rise out of you, and thanks for making my point for me."

"All right," Nasir concedes, rubbing one hand over Agron's head. "So what _do_ you want?"

"I want to stand up in front of a roomful of people and tell everyone how much I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and then I want us to throw the best goddamn party we can to celebrate that," Agron says, pulling back a little to look down at him. "I don't _need_ that--we could just go down to the courthouse tomorrow and I'd be good to go--but I do want it."

Nasir smiles up at him, lifting one hand to brush Agron's cheek with the backs of his fingers. "Okay," he says softly. "Let's do it."

Agron grins and leans down to kiss him again. "So...we're doing this," he says when the kiss breaks. "We're getting engaged. Right now. Should I get out of bed and get down on one knee or something?"

"I think you're good right where you are," Nasir says, twining his arms around Agron's neck. "I love you. And we should probably wait a while to set a date, because all of our friends have wedding fatigue now." 

Agron settles back down on the bed, tugging at Nasir until he's nestled against Agron's chest. "Whatever, our wedding's going to kick ass and they'll attend it and like it," he says, wrapping his arms around Nasir and kissing the top of his head. "I love you, too."


End file.
